Amish beard-cutters: Ringleader Samuel Mullet Sr jailed for 15 years

An Amish sect leader has been jailed for 15 years after a bizarre series of
attacks in which his followers cut off the beards and hair of other Amish
men and women.

Last year, Mullet and 15 of his followers were convicted of hate crimes for the attacks on nine Amish men and women. Photo: AP

7:52PM GMT 08 Feb 2013

Samuel Mullet Sr told a judge in Cleveland, Ohio that he had been blamed for running the cult and was ready to take the punishment.

Amish believe the Bible instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards once they marry. Cutting it would be offensive to the group.

Last year, Mullet and 15 of his followers were convicted of hate crimes for the attacks on nine Amish men and women.

Prosecutors had contended the crimes were motivated by religious disputes between Mullet, the leader of a sect in Berholtz, Ohio, and other Amish religious leaders who had accepted into their communities people Mullet had excommunicated from his.

Defence attorneys argued that the attacks were the result of family or financial disputes and not religious differences, and therefore were not hate crimes.